Prince Harry.....Cool

Prince Harry has been on the front lines in Afghanistan since mid December. I read now that they are pulling him back because it's to dangerous.....really???? Are they just figuring this out? I give The Brits and Harry kudos for serving his country. He will become truly a leader that is followed. We could all learn a little from this courageous young man. I am sure that he could of easily of not gone into the military.....even easier, once in, get assigned to a cushy position. Not Harry, he went to the front line. I like this kid.

Trying to time the market is not cool

Real Estate and timing the market....two sore spots of investments for me. Having owned 6 condos/houses over the years....I have still not picked the time nor the location that ever appreciated very much.....mostly de-preciated! But the topic that drives me crazy is timing the market. Yeah I know....the expert say don't do it. Obviously they are right. I had gold for over a year and 1/2 and it did nothing........then I sell and put it into some mutuals....Since I sold GLD, it has zoomed from 60 to 90....while my mutual fund is down by 30 points......

Guess I will stick to patch cables.

We are extremely busy here with the new space being finished and people buying the "stuff"....not a lot of time to blog.

Is Frank Caliendo cool?

I remember seeing Frank Caliendo a few years ago....he was very funny. But now I am getting sick of him. He is everywhere. I am sure that he living by the saying....make hay when the sun is out....but for pete's sake...enough already. You cannot watch any TV or read a newspaper and not see his mug plastered everywhere. My prediction....by the end of 2008 he will be either washed up or he will have some new material. The Bush/Madden thing is just about done.



Now for those of you that have no idea who this guy is.....which I cannot believe anyone doesn't....thus the post today...



But here is a clip:

Brian Regan and a Gluten Free Dinner....Cool!

Brian Regan made is annual stop in St Louis last night. Great Show at the Pageant. We have seen him for the past 6 years since moving here. If you like Comedy, he is just really funny. The warm up guy was not that great. I also thought the show was a little short.....but that's OK , It's Brian.

Ever since my wife has started with the gluten-free diet, dining out has become more of a challenge. Lats night we went to The Delmar Restaurant & Lounge. What a great little place. The wait staff was excellent and the food was very good. The high note was their responsiveness to the Gluten Free issue. The waiter may not of known too much about what we were speaking of, but the Chef did and between them the wife was very happy.....that's cool!

The big Inventory is going on here today....so I gotta run.

HD-DVD....not so cool anymore

8 track tapes.....betamax.....and now HD-DVD. It's the latest technology to battle for dominance and lose. Yesterday Toshiba yanked the technology from the market. Funny thing was that over the weekend I had to replace my DVD. The best buy Gal was pretty knowledgeable. She explained that there is basically two types of DVD players.... the up conversion types and the true HD types. Ok....you can still but the basic models that work with "regular " TVs. You can get those for $25....but if you listen to the over reported media....you are screwed in 2009 due to the signal change to HD.....might not want to invest that $25....Ha HA....they will report and make a big deal out of everything...the media....another time for that.

Back to 8 track....I think that was the biggest battle. I knew very few people that had betamax and fewer that had the new technology of HD-DVD. But 8 tracks......always remember my brother Tim professing his love to the 8 track. I thought cassettes were better.......Come on...on 8 track the music would stop in the middle of the song....change tracks and then continue the song, how lame. Now it's Ipod's and all the Ipod accessories that go along with them.

So....I am off to return the up-conversion DVD player and spend the extra $100 on the Blue Ray!!!

Let's get to some juicy politics. Did you hear what Michele Obama said at a rally?

“Hope is making a comeback and, let me tell you, for the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country. Not just because Barack is doing well, but I think people are hungry for change,” she said during a rally in downtown Milwaukee.

She should move out of the country....period. If you have not been proud....which means you have been ashamed....for 40+ years then move.

I would hope that this line was more pandering to all the Obama lemmings then her true feelings. Weeeeeeeeeee need change. You may not agree with a certain president or party, but we are all still Americans....we are the biggest and best country in the world. When was the last time you saw Americans sneaking out of our country and trying to get into ....let's say Cuba.....NOT....

Can this guy be anymore....not cool!

The sandwich story continues...........

I was expecting a call from the young kid to get my credit card to pay for the subs late yesterday afternoon. The kid had let me leave the shop without paying. It had taken him over an hour to make the subs and he did not want me to wait any longer than I had to. He thought bringing out may take him another 10-15 minutes. He also told me to grab a bag of chips for all the employees to make amends for being so late.

This kid had more customer service sense in his head then the Father has in his whole body. So I do not hear from the kid.....I was not thinking about it. I get a call this morning from the owner asking me to call him and clear it up. The message was not that bad....just seemed uncomfortable for him it seemed. I call and he's kind of apologetic for the screw-up ....but more interested in finding out about those chips. He insinuated that I took the chips. I straightened that out and told him that the kid said to take the 20 bags of chips on account of the issue. He then says ok and gives me the bill $185....he then lets me know that it does not include the chips....and then he waits in silence...I am thinking what is this guy doing????? Does he think I am going to argue.....so I wait a few moments and then say...ok do you want the credit card number....I can hear this schmuck exhale.... gets the number....no big apologies...no ....hey let me take care of you on some of the bill....no, hey let me get you a free sub when you come in next time....nothing....
By the way....the kid offered 25% off the bill when he was making it.....I told him not to worry, we would pay in full. I was sure he did not behave the authority to give the discount.

The funny thing is.....I just check my voicemail from my phone; the owner had called me last night. That was probably the reason for him sounding weird on the phone today. If I could only play you this message....It sounds like a collection agency call. The kid tried to call you all day...he never left a message,...now I need to call, you need to pay for the sandwiches you TOOK from my store...what a schmuck...I feel sorry for him, he has no trust in human beings. We deal with customers all day buying cables.... of people are honest. They are not looking for something for free or trying to get away with something. The 1%....fire them....don't have them as customers....but don't let the 1% jade your opinion and your shape your customer service philosophy.

Back to work......

This was crazy!!

I love it when people think running a business is easy. It's even funnier when you meet business people that have worked for the fortune 500 for most of their careers and they do not have any sense in running a small business.

Over the past month I have been visiting a new sub shop in town. The bread is great! Kinda pricey, but the pickles and the bread are soooooo good. I got to talkin to the owner one afternoon. He had been in the insurance business for 24 years. He was laid off and decided that he would open up sub shops with his son. Sounds ok. His plan was to open 4-6 of these shops. Well it's been a year and a half and the place is not doing well.....in fact he tells me that he needs to get a job to supplement his income. He's 55 and can't find a job.....so he took a job at Lowes........really I am thinking....Lowes????? I suspect in interviews he comes off as he did to me.....upset with the world....trying to smile but right below the surface ....he's mad.

Anyway....

So I figured OK the guy needs the money to keep his business open....he probably works nights and early morning...pretty honorable.......

Nope...he's a dope.

Every so often we buy lunch for all the employees. We spread the wealth to all the restaurants in the valley. Today I figure...we will go to the sub shop. I get everybody to give me their order and then fax it over to the shop. In the meantime I try to call the shop.....no answer...10 am....no answer 10:30 am....no answer 11 am....no answer 11:30...at noon I drive over thinking maybe they went under....I have 20 hungry employees waiting for subs.....


I get there and the only one there is the part time college kid who makes the sandwiches. He just got there at 11:45am. That is his time slot. The son is suppose to open....and the father....you guessed it...is at Lowes bringing down $8 an hour. I have to wait an hour ....some customers don't wait and leave......he must of lost 50-90 dollars of business in the hour that I was there....well worth the $8 he earned at Lowes.


This guy spent 250k for a franchise and has not one cent of marketing sense in his head.

On a good day they bring in 300-400 dollars in sales....do the math....they will never make it.

Too bad....the bread is awesome.

see ya Huckster....not sure if that's cool

Back to immigration tomorrow.....
The huckster is just about done....and Obama takes the Middle Atlantic. It's a dog fight for the Democrats.

The talking heads are now saying " we have to keep Hillary in it for us to win it" funny...now she is un-electable in a general election. We thought that from the start....but now that Obama is looking like he may be the man.....better help the Hilster out! I heard Obama giving his standard address after winning Virginia yesterday......can this guy strech out the word "we" any longer. And can he give me more meat then....weeeeeeee need change.....weeeeee need unity. Pretty soon he is going to say weeeeee have a dream!!!!!

McCain.......well I guess he's going to be our guy.......I better get on the band wagon.

YOU MUST go to our Humpday special video today. It is very funny. we are selling surface mount boxes for 99 cents. I went to take a peak at the special and Mike had a repeat from last week. The dorrito commercial with the big rat beating the guy.....it was funny last week Mike.....Mike made a quick swith once I called him and alerted him to that!!! He really found a funny one though.....click on the surface mount box link above (for all of you non techies) The video is on the bottom of the page.
Enjoy.

Let's Continue the Discussion....hope it's cool with you!

Immigration is a tough topic. I will try to organize some of my thoughts..

We cannot just remove 12 million people.
This would be a nightmare both politically and administratively. The federal government would need to hire hundreds of thousands of workers to handle this issue. Never mind each would want a jury trial….what, you say no jury trial….why not…many in the country think we need to give POW’s (yes I said POWs) at Gitmo a trial….anyway back on track. Anyone who thinks this is possible….sit back and really give it some thought…..no way.

Given two assumptions:
We cannot send them back
We could possibly stop new ones from coming in

I say we:

Give them all 120-180 days to register. They will need to do it electronically on a website….no way we could do it any other way. It would take an army of government workers administering it….think department of Motor Vehicles and getting your license….OMG Forget it. Once registered they would need to come to a center for a picture and finger prints. Hold on ACLU…..They are illegally here.

Now let’s get them paying taxes. No payeeeeee…then off to the pokey….period.

We need to fine and arrest employers that do not take precautions to ensure their workers are legal. How do we do that…..two ways…thousands of employers hire illegals. Find them and arrest the owners. Now you say….but wait Billy told me he was legal and gave me a ss#....yeah, but the IRS sent you a notice a year later to tell you that the ss# was invalid….what did you do with that information…..ooops…off to the pokey.
This will be painful at first…but remember the lady who got jammed up with the record companies by downloading free mp3’s….illegal downloading has since become less popular and paid sites such as itunes are flourishing……Tough Love Baby

OK the fingers are getting tired. Come back tomorrow to hear me once again jump upon the soap box.

Tech tip for the day…..change your passwords. NEVER EVER use your paypal password for anything else….NEVER. Any on-line banking….same thing. It’s a pain…. I know but it’s important. We are constantly making sure that the king of patch cables site is very secure.……now there….go change your password.

McCain Race is not too cool

Well all the excitement in the Republican race is now over. With Mitt taking the dive and the Huckster around 225....McCain looks like he will be the nominee. Talk radio is already setting the stage for all the pissed off conservatives.....He's better then a true liberal. What will be fun over the next few months will be the VP selection.

I will start with at least three things that McCain has pledged or shown in his career.

He's pro-life...always has been.

He will fight for the tax cut to be permanent. OK he has flipped flop on this issue...he now has done his Mea Culpas and is saying that it was a mistake to have voted against them

Strict Constructionist Philosophy....his appointees to the bench will be well received by us.

Things he will need to work on: Immigration

I was having lunch with my partner John today and we were trying to solve all the world's problems. Today was immigration day. John had a great idea. We both believe that the first thing we need to do is stop the infiltration of illegal immigrants. This can only be accomplished by executing two main strategies:

Secure the border
Clamp down on employers who hire illegal immigrants

The next issue is with the illegals that are already here. 12 million????? First question....how do they know how many of them there are? 2nd....forget getting them all out. It would be immpossible, not to mention probably bad for the U.S.

The idea is to get them all registered and paying taxes. Then as a part of becoming citizens they must do community service or join the armed services. It's an interesting idea. We are going to have to do something with these people; they are utilizing our system and resources.....ILLEAGALLY!

Now to the tech talk. We brought in a crazy amount of rca cables last week. We bought them from a liquidator. They are RCA cables and come in the retail package. They were a great buy and we will be able to offer some hot deals to our customers.....now that's cool!

All the negatives are not cool!

I thought I would go off on two issues....both are negative. One was what happened in Kirkwood Missouri last night.....some idiot goes off and shoots up the city council killing 5-6 people. His mother and brother go on to say that he must have been upset. The second issue is about a young girl at a friends HS that takes a naked photo of herself and sends it to her boyfriend on her cell phone. Yeah you guessed it....every kid in this small town now has Suzie on their phone. I could go on and on about these two idiots.....but I figured you could get your dose of negativity in the newspaper.

I thought I would tell you a story that made me feel great!

A couple of years ago I was at a Cardinals game. I had scored some great seats down on the third base line so a foul ball could be in my future. In front of me was a Mom, Dad and their son. Along with the family was the son's buddy. I watched them throughout the game. The two boys were about 10. It must have been a birthday or some other big celebration because dad was making sure the boys had everything they needed. There was pretzels, hotdogs, cotton candy....cripes the guy must of dropped $100 on food alone. The whole time the boys were polite....but very excited. It also seemed that the buddy was the big baseball fan. It was late in the game when a foul ball came whizzing into our section. The buddy was like a flash. He dove into the seats fighting for that ball. The son was not as interested and just stayed seated.

The buddy won the battle and captured the ball. The next thing all happened in a split second. During the battle the buddy had his back to his friend the whole time. He then stood up ran the three seats back to his row and without hesitation, presented the ball to his friend. He said “this is for you”.

Still puts a smile on my face. The buddy's parents would have been proud. The son is lucky to have such a friend. That is COOL.

As this world keeps spinning out of moral control......look around there are plenty of buddy stories to keep you going.

Looking good for the left side....not so cool

The most interesting thing about Super Tuesday was the number of voters that voted.

Take a look at these numbers.

Massachusetts: Democrats: 1.75 million, Republicans: 458 thousand both with 94% reporting

Missouri: Democrats 815 thousand, Republicans: 580 thousand both with 99% reporting

Georgia: Democrats 980 thousand, Republicans: 917 thousand 92% reporting

Illinois: Democrats 1.75 million, Republicans: 770 thousand, 88% reporting

Are you seeing a pattern.....

The dems are energized....the republicans........same old same old. I would hope the conservative party.....although we will end up with a conservative liberal as a candidate...boo hoo,
get's their act together. The last thing we need is a controlled house and senate along with the presidency all from the same party. Yeah Yeah...I know Bush and the boys had that set up.....look what it did to us....those over spenders!

Cool tech tip for the day.....

Our hump day special is 6' Dual RCA Audio Cable for only $1.99. They are studio grade and sell at the retail stores for as much as 8-9 dollars. I bought a ton on a clearance from a wholesaler...so we are blowing them out.

2 Very uncool issues!

Two bitches for the day!

1st..... I voted today!!! When I get there, they ask me if I want to use the computer or the hanging chad paper process.....I elect to be cool and digital. So they send me over to a 20 something volunteer (no doubt a liberal!!) who brings me over to the computer voting booth. He then plugs in his little black box and the computer awakens to ask me if I what ballot I want....republican, democrat, or Independent. No issues until I see Joey Volunteer watching me....I say to him...what? Why are you still here? He needs to have his little black box back and I need to pick the ballot while he is standing there.....so I did. I came away feeling a little dirty....a little violated. Now I know how people who get the search in the airport feel......

I just thought it was weird......

2nd..... I am doing my daily optimization work, when all of a sudden pop ups start trying to hit my screen. YES Foley Kids.....you can get a virus by just visiting a site. I load our site on different directories...I obviously ran into a site that is not really interested in being a directory. It jammed the Trojandownloader.Zlob down my throat and I have been coughing up blood ever since. Cannot seem to shake the tricky little guy. I hope my IT guy can help me out with this issue. What a waste of about 4 hours so far. If I ever caught the idiot who is either getting paid by the anti spy ware companies to write this code or some idiot who is just having fun....I will personally take my keyboard and........ Oh yeah...rated G site here!

Well gotta get back to cleaning up this mess

Go Huck in spitit...Go Mitt in reality!

Cool to be a Giants fan .........Again

I have been a Giant fan for most of my life! When I was a kid I remember following the Steelers....but was always a Giants fan. Being from Southern Connecticut, most people were Giant fans. We had our occasional Jet fan and then some transplants that followed their teams from a far, but mostly Giant fans. You had to get to the Hartford area to start to find Patriot fans. I must admit however, if the Rams are playing the Giants......GO RAMS. Since moving to St Louis 6 years ago, I have followed the Rams. Did you check your calendar ?.......6 years ago....
We moved here ion January of 02....Rams were beaten in the Superbowl by none other then....the Pat. It was our first football game in Missouri...and we had to see our new team lose.

Many people tell me that I should still be a Giant fan. I say...when in Rome....I now watch the Cardinals...I can't believe I said that. Baseball, what a bore. But if you live in St. Louis it's hard not to like the Cardinals. We also have been learning to be Ram fans. We have been to a number of the games each season and watch most of them every week. The worst part of watching a Rams game is that it is indoors. It never feels like you are watching football.

Anyway.....Great Superbowl....the big winners:

The Giant Defense
Fox Sports
And viewing public!

Go Rams!

Yahoo News is cool

Although I love to read.....I love to watch TV more. The internet is great for on demand TV clips. Yahoo is does a great job of putting little clips together. In fact, they did a great job in interviewing the republican candidates.
Take a look at these clips.

There are too many for me to post.
They are under the technology header on this page
http://news.yahoo.com/featured

It leads you to a page that has a bunch of clips on the republicans.

The clip on recession....regarding do you know anyone who is hurt by the mortgage issue?

Huckabee...yes I know people
McCain...I have friends that have been hurt
Mitt....I met people along the campaign trail that are hurting


OK Huck and McCain....liar liar...not in their social circles...no way do they know or even worse, are friends with people who are in a pinch is VERY hard to believe. Another point for Mitt!

GO GIANTS......